OTTAWA | Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative Party has finally come together: it will vote against the increase in the capital gains tax.
Mr. Poilievre broke the suspense that had lasted since the tabling of the Freeland budget in mid-April in a speech delivered in the House of Commons.
“The billionaires will not pay because the Prime Minister gave them two months after the announcement, before the implementation of this tax, to be able to leave the country with their money,” said Mr. Poilievre in a speech.
The Trudeau government is making the increase in the capital gains inclusion rate a question of tax justice. He argues that workers’ wages are taxed at 100%, unlike income earned from the sale of an asset that has increased in value – called “capital gains” – such as company stock or secondary property. rent, taxed at 50%.
The liberal measure aims to tax 67% of profits made above $250,000 per year.
But, according to Mr. Poilievre, the Liberal measure will instead “kill jobs” and harm the economy.
“It’s just going to increase the cost of food, it’s going to make doctors less available, and it’s going to make paychecks smaller,” he said.
The new tax grab from the wealthiest will allow the public treasury to enrich itself by $20 billion over five years, according to calculations by federal officials.
The Trudeau government wants to invest massively in the construction of housing thanks to this new revenue.
The Conservative Party announced that it would instead propose a tax reform which will aim to reduce taxes for “the poorest and [de] the middle class” and to attack tax havens and “big government gifts to big businesses”.
The debate on capital gains taxation animated the partisan contest during question period, with Justin Trudeau accusing the Conservative Party of “siding on the side of the better off.”
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre responded that the Liberal measure would only increase the tax burden on the shoulders of the middle class.
